Automatic sprinkler.



W. B. HAMMOND.

AUTOMATIC SPRlNKLER.

APPLICATION FILED MN. 29. 1915.

1,162,692. Patented Nov. 30, 1915.

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WILBERFORCE BEECI-IER HAMMOND, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 30, 1915.

Application filed January 29,1915. Serial N 0. 5,142.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WVILBEnroRoE B. HAM- MOND, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Automatic Sprinklers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to automatic fire extinguishers, generally known as sprinklers, and is applicable to that type of sprinkler in which the valve-closure is main tained by a lever or system of levers, held normally in restraint by a member usually in'link form, which comprises in its structure a readily fusible material, so sensitive to heat that in case of fire it releases its hold on the valve holding means and allows the valve to open and release water.

In recent years, the increasing vogue of forced circulation water heating systems, the pipes of which are disposed under the ceiling or high on the walls, of rooms to be heated, has stimulated mill engineers to contrive methods by which pipes forming part of the heating system might be equipped with sprinklers, thus saving much of the piping required when the heating and sprinkler systems are installed independently. The difficulty to be overcome lies in the inconsistency between the temperature which mustfrequently be maintained in the water of the heatingsystem, and the essential sensitiveness to heat, of the fusible members of fire-protecting sprinklers. The invention covered by my United States Patent No. 1,058,968, had for its object the reconciliations of this reciprocal incompatibility, and has been practically demonstrated in several mill installations now in service. The sprinkler described in my said 7 patent, and now in the systems referred to,

is the well known Grinnell sprinkler. There are, however, other acceptable forms of sprinkler in which the heat-sensitive memher is not in such intimate heat-communicating relationship with the metal framework of the sprinkler as in the Grinnell sprinkler, and which therefore comprise in their structure physical conditions which render them less susceptible than the Grinnell sprinkler to inadvertent release when connected with hot water pipes. The Evans type (United States Patent No. 729,306,) and the VValworth or Hall type (United States Patent No. 395,225,) furnish examples of such sprinklers. But even sprinklers of those types, if mounted on a pipe in close neighborhood to the hot water and hot metal, are not safe under conditions which must occasionally develop in severe winter weather, when the water temperature is raised to 220 F. or even higher.

My invention, herein described, consists in improvements in the structure of sprinklers of that type (represented by the Evans or )Valworth sprinklers) in which a lever, or lever system, normally held under constraint by a fusible member, serves to hold the sprinkler valve closed.

In the drawings hereto annexed, which lllustrate my invention,-Figure 1 shows my improvements applied to a sprinkler of the Evans type; and Fig. 2, applied to a sprinkler of the Valworth type.

in the sprinkler illustrated in Fig. 1, the valve V is held in place by toggle members 13 and B, the upper member bearing on the metal frame A which stands in the base A. In the Evans sprinkler as heretofore constructed, the arms connecting these toggle members to the fusible link L have been of metal, integral with the toggle members, and of considerable thickness; capable therefore of transmitting heat too readily to the link L to allow the sprinkler to be directly applied to a hot water pipe.

In my improvement, the lever arms C and C are made in open-work form, preferably by employing a cluster of small rods or wires, joined to a securing means, such as D, I) also joined where the link L engages with them, but spread apart between these two points.

The sprinkler illustrated in Fig. 2 comprises a base A, frame A and a lever member E pivoted to the frame at P. An adjusting bolt F bears on the valve V, and the fusible link L engages the hook 'l" on the crown piece T. In this type of sprinkler, as heretofore made, the lever E has an integral vertical extension which at its upper end engages the link L; this extension would provide too ample conductive heat communication from the base A to the link L to be safe, if the sprinkler were to be directly applied to a hot water pipe.

As with the structure shown in Fig. 1, so in that shown in Fig. 2, I provide an openwork lever arm G, composed preferably of a number of small rods or wires, bunched and joined to the holding means at J, and

at the upper end I where they collectively engage the link L. Midway between J and I, the rods or wires are spread apart.

I By the means above described, the heat of v the hot water pipe, to which such improved sprinklers may be attached, produces a condition which insures coolness at the fusible member L, because the upward current of heated air immediately surrounding the pipe draws with it cooler air from surrounding regions, and this cooler air, bathing the open-work lever members, efiectively disperses the heat conducted to them from the hot sprinkler frame, base, and toggle members. Evenunder the most extreme conditions met with in practice, when the Water in the heater pipe circulates at 220 F. or

, higher, the above described improvements are effective to maintain the fusible link members of the sprinklers at a safe temperature, though the sprinklers themselves are directly secured to the hot water pipe. Experiment has demonstrated also, that even if the sprinkler be so attached that the fusible member. is directly over the hot water pipe, it nevertheless will remain at a safely low temperature.

Many specific variations in structure may be devised, any of which will present the physical condition implied by the term open-work, hereinabove employed; that is to say, which Will provide relatively large heat radiating surface and susceptibility to extensive contact with a cooling current of air, and relatively small cross-section.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an automatic fire extinguisher of the type designated, the combination with a retaining member comprising easily fusible material, of valve holdlng means compr1sing an open-work lever arm engaging said retaining member.

2. In an automatic vfire extinguisher of the type described, the combination with a retalnlng member comprislng easily fusible materlal, of valve holdlng' means, comprising a lever arm made of a plurality of relatively small rods, separated from each other for the major part of their length, and collectively engaging the said retaining member.

Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts, this 20th day of January 19l5.

WILBERFORCE BEECHER 1 HAMMOND.

Witnesses: 7 7' I ROBERT CUSHMAN, RICHARD W.- HALL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G. V v 

